valeriegd's posterous http://valeriegd.posterous.com Most recent posts at valeriegd's posterous posterous.com Sun, 29 Aug 2010 07:46:41 -0700 The Richness of Diversity http://valeriegd.posterous.com/the-richness-of-diversity http://valeriegd.posterous.com/the-richness-of-diversity

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a performance of Aida in Bregenz.  This is such a special atmosphere as it is open air, the stage is on the lake, the lighting is amazing as are all the props.  Positioned in the lake and on the main stage are pieces of metal painted blue with gold stars.  These are pieces of the Statue of Liberty – the symbol of freedom - but a bit strange in a storyline set over 100 years ago in Egypt. The costumes are a mix of old Egypt and modern day clothes (the figures in the photo are actors).  

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So the plot unfolds as per Verdi’s script.  Suddenly there is a commotion behind us.  Turning around I saw a line of riot police – not Egyptian but pretty Germanic looking, with shields, viziers .. They moved towards the audience sitting in the front row and proceeded to engage them with batons and shields, the audience fights back – at this point the main stage is not getting too much attention – and many end up in the cold lake.  So you have guessed, this was part of the performance. 

This production rather than staying with ‘we have done it this way for years and it was successful’ choose to combine the classic vision with a translation of the story into the modern world.  The result was an extremely rich production that in fact takes the audience beyond the beautiful music, costumes and stage to reflecting upon freedom of speech, action in our current world..

Taking this to our professional environment – the value of diversity, be it gender, generational, style can only add to the richness of a discussion or plan and impact the outcome.  When did you last really look at your team to see how diverse it is.  You know that if the team is not diverse, it will be easier to manage (the yes team) but you also know that a diverse team can be more chaotic, more creative, more impulsive but most importantly generally deliver a better outcome.  Note to self for tomorrow – check team composition!

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Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:41:17 -0700 What blocks the team spirit in business? http://valeriegd.posterous.com/what-blocks-the-team-spirit-in-business http://valeriegd.posterous.com/what-blocks-the-team-spirit-in-business

The world cup is the key topic everywhere.  Although not really a football fan, I do like to watch top class sport - so sometimes end up watching a match.  As Ireland did not make it that far, I now back Switzerland and today they rattled quite some cages! An amazing victory over Spain – well done guys!

My company pulled out the stops – public viewing on campus!  With free beer and sausages (accompanies every good Swiss event) and plastic raincoats for those brave enough to not dive for cover from the rain.  But what was really interesting was the combination of senior leaders standing beside administrative staff, middle management, etc; Swiss, French, German and a big bunch of ex pats living and working in Switzerland; baby boomers, gen X, gen Y; male and female – the perfect diverse team all united in cheering on Switzerland (Hopp Schwyz!!!) with their bratwurst and bier – an amazing atmosphere!

The team are all Swiss nationals but if you look at the picture, a nice mix considering it is a male sport and for relatively young males.  In addition the trainer is German. 

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And the country has gone a bit mad as well; the two major supermarket chains were announcing since Tuesday that if Switzerland wins against Spain, Thursday is 10% discount of everything in the store.  A major hamburger chain is selling hamburgers for 1 CHF (normally 2.50) on each day the Swiss team are playing etc….

Now stop for a second and reflect on this – we can generate a real wining spirit regardless of hierarchy, gender, age or nationality for a football team – what stops us doing this in our daily business?  The hierarchy or culture? The lack of a common mission? Maybe lack of mission communication?  It is important to start addressing some of these not so obvious hurdles and leverage this energy to deliver amazing results.  

Lets start by being inclusive, then aligning the team behind a common goal (sorryJ) and pushing for diverse teams that reflect better the customer base.  We have a lot to learn from sports teams!

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/535183/Valerie_3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AAZPIUR8fm1 Valerie Guertler-Doyle valeriegd Valerie Guertler-Doyle